Device for holding hand tools

ABSTRACT

A device for holding hand tools to the hand of the operator which utilizes an elastic wire wound strap containing on its interior a limit strap, these straps being attached to the base structure associated with the tool whereby the limit strap permits stretching of the coil wound strap to permit insertion of the operator&#39;&#39;s hand beneath the wire wound strap but restrains the stretching of the wire wound strap beyond its elastic limit.

United States Patent Meyer et a]. 1 1 Oct. 1, 1974 1 DEVICE FOR HOLDING HAND TOOLS 3,461,859 8/1969 Fortnam 128/36 [75] Inventors: Roy E. Meyer; William M. Walton,

both ng; Jerry Primary ExaminerLawrence W. Trapp Morrlson, all of Attorney, Agent, or FirmCarl C. Batz [73] Assignee: Wahl Corporation, Sterling, ll].

[22] Filed: June 11, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 368,697

A device for holding hand tools to the hand of the operator which utilizes an elastic wire wound strap con- [52] US. Cl. 128/32, 16/115 mining on its interior a limit Strap, these Straps being [5 llllt. attached to the base Structure associated with the tool [58] Fleld 0f Search 128/32, 3436, whereby the limit Strap permits Stretching of the Coil 128/41, 16/1 14 B, 1 15, 1 wound strap to permit insertion of the operators hand beneath the wire wound strap but restrains the stretch- [56] References C'ted ing of the wire wound strap beyond its elastic limit.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,063,443 11/1962 Wahl 128/32 10 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 1 DEVICE FOR HOLDING HAND TOOLS This invention relates to a hand tool device for holding hand tools to the hand of the operator. The device is especially adaptable to tools such as vibrator for use in massaging.

BACKGROUND Tools such as a vibrator commonly used in massaging operations require some means for holding the tool on the hand of the operator. It has been the practice to use one or more straps which extend from the tool and embrace the hand of the operator. It is desirable that the straps be elastic so the. operator may put the fingers of his hand through the space between the tool and the straps and push his hand into position as the straps stretch, and the tension produced by stretching the elastic straps then holds the straps taut about the operators hand.

One such tool and assembly structure 'is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,063,443. In the device described in that patent a wire wound strap is provided with its ends secured to the base of the tool so that the operator may place his hand under the wire wound band and cause it to stretch and elastically hold the tool on the operators hand.

One disadvantage in the use of the wire wound strap is that if at any time the strap is stretched'beyond a certain length it will yield and receive a permanent set so that upon release the strap will not come back to its prior length before it'stretched. This means that the strap no longer has its previous elastic pull to hold the tool tight to the operators hand, and is, to a large extent, useless for its intended purpose.

Another disadvantage is that if for any reason the wire wound strap gets stretched to a greater extent than was designed the spaces between the coils of the wire become so large as to be uncomfortable to the hand of the person who operates the tool. This may come about by reason of pinching the skin of the operator.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved hand tool assembly which provides the advantages of a wire wound strap for elastically holding the tool on an operators hand but which will be limited as to the extent to which it will expand and cannot be extended to the point it will receive a permanent set.

A further object is to provide such an assembly which includes a strap for limiting the extension of the wire wound strap and which is contained within the coils of the wire wound strap. Another object is to provide such an assembly wherein the strap for limiting the extension of the wire wound strip is itself elastic and assists the wire wound strap in holding the tool resiliently to the hand of the operator. Yet another object is to provide effective means for securing the ends of both the wire wound strap and the limit strap to the base of the tool. Other objects and advantages will be apparent as this specification proceeds. In some aspects the present invention is an improvement on the invention set forth in said Pat. No. 3,063,443.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a massaging device embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view taken along line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view of the wire wound strap assembly with parts of the wire wound strap broken away to show the limit strap;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but showing the wire wound strap extended to the extent permitted by strap 21. Further the limit strap as shown in this view may be made of cloth as illustrated in FIG. 6, or may be made of elastic fabric. as will be described hereinafter; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of limit strap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION As illustrated, the improved device may involve a massage vibrator 10 which has a casing 11 and a base structure 12. The casing has a pair of casing mounting portions 13 and 14 and these mounting portions are in coextensive engagement with a pair of mounting portions 15 and 16, on the base structure.

A pad at the bottom of the base structure provides a cushion between the tool and the back of the wearers hand when the device is in use.

A resilient flexible strap 20 is provided for engaging the hand of the operator of the vibrator tool. This strap is made of spring wire formed into coils 20a which are generally rectangular in cross section so as to provide an elongated strap which has relatively smallthickness when compared to its width. The strap 20 is sufficiently long that when its ends are fastened to the base structure the operator will be able to insert his hand between the strap and the base structure only after the strap has been stretched beyond its relaxed length. Further this I strap should be long enough to embrace the operators hand in normal practice before it is stretched to a point beyond its elastic limit and will take a permanent set.

With strap 20 made of coils of wire as above described it is hallow, and contained within the coils of strap 20 is a second strap 21, (see FIGS. 6 and 7), which may be of a fibrous material such as a cord. a rope or a fabric such as cloth or may be made of metal such as wire leader or woven wire strand. This second strap functions to provide a limit on the extend to which the wire would strap 20 may be stretched, and will be called a limit strap.

The limit strap 21 when made of a material such as cloth or wire must be longer than the relaxed length of the wire wound strap 20 but should have a length shorter than the length of the strap 20 when it reaches its elastic limit. However, since the limit strap, in its non-elastic form, is longer than the strap 20 when at its relaxed length, the limit strap may be doubled or turned as shown in FIG. 6 so that its ends are contained within strap 20 when in strap 21 as shown in FIG. 6. To achieve this condition, strap 21 may be threaded through the hollow of strap 20. The strap 20 may then be stretched to bring its ends coextensive with the ends of strap 21, and following this strap 20 may be allowed to retreat to its relaxed length which causes strap 21 to assume the convoluted form illustrated. Then, when both straps 20 and 21 are extended, as shown in FIG. 7 the convolutions 21a of strap 21 disappear as shown in FIG. 7. At the point of maximum extension of the strap 21 the length of strap will not yet have reached its elastic limit and therefore will not receive a permanent set.

In the case where the strap 21 is itself made of an elastic material such as an elastic fabric material, its relaxed length may correspond with or be shorter than the relaxed length of strap 20. It should be extendable to a length which will permit the strap to embrace a hand of the operator when in use, but should not be extendable to a length which is beyond the length of the elastic limit of strap 20. In such case the tension produced by the limit strap may be, for example, half of the total tension holding the tool to the operators hand, but the relative proportion of the tension taken by each of the straps 20 and 21 may be varied as desired and in accordance with manufacturing skills used in fabrication of these straps. Likewise the length of strap 20 when it reaches its elastic limit may be, for example, 200% of its length when relaxed, but this also may vary according to the character of the wire and its manufacture to produce the strap, these factors being known in the art of manufacturing such straps.

In the preferred form of the invention shown in the drawings an end fastener 25 is used at each end of the strap 21. This fastener is generally U-shaped, and an end of the strap 21 is looped over the central portion 26 of the fastener and fastened to the body of the strap as by stitching. On each side of portion 26 an end portion extends toward the end of strap 20 and has loops 27 which extend over and about the end edges of the strap 20 at each side edge of the strap. The central portion 26 may be noticed to be disposed inwardly of the end edge of strap 20 to serve a purpose which will later be explained.

The base structure 12 is provided with pits or slots 30 which are of a size to receive the ends of the straps snuggly therein, and with the fasteners 25 in place to hold the end of strap 21 fixed at the end of strap 20 as shown in FIG. 6, the ends of the straps are fitted into pits 30, and a screw is extended through an opening 31 into the ends of each of the ends of strap 20 to thereby bind the end portions of strap 20 against the sides of pits 30. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, this serves also to bind the ends, of both straps in fixed position with the base structure. It will be noted also that the central portion 26 of fasteners 25 is located inwardly from the end edges of strap 20, so that when the screw 40 is turned into place as shown in FIG. 4, this portion of the fasteners do not interfere with the engagement by screw 40 with the end portion of strap 20 to anchor the assembly in place. The screw 40 is in fact spaced from this central portion 26 of the fastener.

A modified type oflimit strap is illustrated in FIG. 8.. As shown in this FIG. 8 an elastic cloth strip 60 is made in the form of a closed loop by fastening the two ends together by stitching, stapeling or riveting at 61. There is thus formed a strap of double thickness which may be passed through a wound wire strap. The limit strap may then have one of fasteners 25 put in place at one end, and may have its other end extended beyond the other end of the wound wire strap where another of fasteners 25 may be put in place in the end of the limit strap. This modification has particular advantage in that the limit strap need be stitched, stapeled or otherwise fastened together only at one end, and also that being double the strap may exert a substantial amount of resilient tension.

We claim:

1. A hand tool device comprising a base structure, a wound wire strap which is elastically extendable from its relaxed length to a length beyond which it yields and takes a permanent set, a limit strap contained within said wound wire strap which is extendable to a limit length greater than the relaxed length of said wire wound strap but short of the length beyond which said wound wire strap takes a permanent set, and means for securing the ends of each of said straps to said base whereby said wire wound strap can be extended to resiliently embrace the hand of an operator and hold the tool to the hand while protected against extension beyond its yield point by said limit strap.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said limit strap is doubled to compact its length within the length of said wire wound strap when relaxed.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said limit strap, as well as said wire wound strap, is elastically extendable, but wherein said limit strap is elastically extendable only to a length which is short of the length at which said wire wound strap takes a permanent set.

4. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said securing means includes a pit in said base structure which is adapted to receive an end of said wire wound strap and screw means for anchoring said end against the sides of said pit.

5. A device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said securing means includes means for attaching an end of said limit strap to an end of said wire wound strap.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 wherein said last mentioned means includes a wire fastener having its ends extending about the end edges of said wound wire strap and being attached at its central portion to an end of said limit strap.

7. A device as set forth in claim 6 wherein said securing means includes screw means for engaging the end of said wire wound strap to bind said wire wound strap against the sides of said pit, and wherein said fastener has its central portion located inwardly of the end edges of said wire wound strap and separated from said screw means.

8. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said limit strap is made of cloth.

9. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said limit strap is doubled over and has its ends secured together to form a closed loop.

10. A device as set forth in claim 9 wherein said limit strap is elastic and provides tension when extended, supplementing the tension provided when said wire wound strip is extended. 

1. A hand tool device comprising a base structure, a wound wire strap which is elastically extendable from its relaxed length to a length beyond which it yields and takes a permanent set, a limit strap contained within said wound wire strap which is extendable to a limit length greater than the relaxed length of said wire wound strap but short of the length beyond which said wound wire strap takes a permanent set, and means for securing the ends of each of said straps to said base whereby said wire wound strap can be extended to resiliently embrace the hand of an operator and hold the tool to the hand while protected against extension beyond its yield point by said limit strap.
 2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said limit strap is doubled to compact its length within the length of said wire wound strap when relaxed.
 3. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said limit strap, as well as sAid wire wound strap, is elastically extendable, but wherein said limit strap is elastically extendable only to a length which is short of the length at which said wire wound strap takes a permanent set.
 4. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said securing means includes a pit in said base structure which is adapted to receive an end of said wire wound strap and screw means for anchoring said end against the sides of said pit.
 5. A device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said securing means includes means for attaching an end of said limit strap to an end of said wire wound strap.
 6. A device as set forth in claim 5 wherein said last mentioned means includes a wire fastener having its ends extending about the end edges of said wound wire strap and being attached at its central portion to an end of said limit strap.
 7. A device as set forth in claim 6 wherein said securing means includes screw means for engaging the end of said wire wound strap to bind said wire wound strap against the sides of said pit, and wherein said fastener has its central portion located inwardly of the end edges of said wire wound strap and separated from said screw means.
 8. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said limit strap is made of cloth.
 9. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said limit strap is doubled over and has its ends secured together to form a closed loop.
 10. A device as set forth in claim 9 wherein said limit strap is elastic and provides tension when extended, supplementing the tension provided when said wire wound strip is extended. 